Food for Thought: Food Can Fight Pain

As a sports nutritionist who works with professional and competitive athletes, including tennis players, I’m always on the lookout for tips and tricks that give my clients an edge. An in my 10-plus years of practice, not a week goes by that we don’t learn more about how particular foods and nutrients help the body operate like a well-oiled machine. Each one of your body’s 100 trillion cells relies solely on what you eat and drink to fuel your performance and help you recover. And while sports nutrition isn’t an exact science, there are plenty of tried and true techniques every tennis player should know.

The 20 Things You Need to Know About Nutrition

3. Food Can Fight Pain
When inflammation occurs in the joints, it creates a cascade of problems—the loss of cartilage, a painful grating sensation, and reduced flexibility. But anti-inflammatory foods like ginger quell the flames. In a study of more than 250 people with osteoarthritis of the knee, those who received ginger extract twice a day experienced less pain and needed fewer pain-killers compared to those who received a placebo. Ginger has been shown to share the same pharmacological properties as ibuprofen and naproxen. Other potent anti-inflammatory foods include tart cherries, berries, extra virgin olive oil and turmeric.